Ford reports devastating losses thanks to electric vehicle gamble

Thomas Catenacci, DCNF

Major U.S. automaker Ford blamed its sizable investment in electric vehicle (EV) company Rivian for its dramatic revenue decline in the first quarter of 2022.

Ford reported revenue of $34.5 billion between January and March, a 5% decline relative to the same period in 2021, and a net loss of $3.1 billion, according to the company’s earnings report released Wednesday. The Detroit automaker said its large investment in Rivian accounted for $5.4 billion in losses during the first quarter.

“A net loss of $3.1 billion was primarily attributable to a mark-to-market loss of $5.4 billion on the company’s investment in Rivian,” Ford said in the earnings report.

Ford maintains a roughly 12% stake in Rivian, CNBC reported in November.

Rivian has posted massive profit losses of its own and its share price has plummeted nearly 70% over the last six months. The value of Ford’s roughly 102 million Rivian shares has fallen from about $17.5 billion to $3.2 billion since November.

“The capability of this business is much stronger than what we were able to provide in the quarter,” Ford CFO John Lawler said Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Rivian, a California-based company founded in 2009, went public in November, according to the WSJ. Investors quickly scooped up shares of the startup EV maker at the time, but recent poor performance has driven many investors away.

In the final three months of 2021, Rivian reported a net loss of $2.5 billion.

Automakers have increasingly turned their attention toward manufacturing electric vehicles as governments push aggressive green energy plans. President Joe Biden has promised to craft policies to ensure 50% of new vehicle sales in the U.S. are emissions-free by 2030 and every addition to the federal government’s 600,000-vehicle fleet is electric by 2035.

However, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe recently suggested that the supply chain for EV batteries is still far behind where it needs to be to achieve many of the goals pushed by Western governments, the WSJ reported.

“Put very simply, all the world’s cell production combined represents well under 10% of what we will need in 10 years,” Scaringe said last week. “Meaning, 90% to 95% of the supply chain does not exist.”

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8 thoughts on “Ford reports devastating losses thanks to electric vehicle gamble

  1. Businesses used to have a near fool-proof way to avoid losses like these. They used to try to provide their customers with products they want.

    I know–that’s just crazy talk.

  2. Of course finding out it costs more to operate an electric car in California than a gas one has probably not helped sales at all. It will be interesting when the recent peer reviewed studies that say doubling the CO2 in the atmosphere will raise global temperatures exactly 0 degrees get some publicity. The whole “climate change” fraud has been dependent on CO2 as the boogeyman, and now it has been determined CO2 has nothing to do with global warming at all. This will make all the electric cars and “eagle killer” wind turbines pointless, and shut down all the money the high priests of manmade global warming have been raking in for so many years, go away. The regime has to know all about these studies, but continues to act like they do not exist, in order to curry favor with its left wing radical base. Their “clean energy” will be viable in around 50 years. FJB

  3. Where do we get most of the rare earth minerals needed for the batteries, etc. CHINA ! Who does Biden owe promises to for Hunter’s great success and Joe’s 10%. CHINA ! This is just the first coupon Xi has clipped and sent in for redemption. Who knows what the next set are earmarked for.

  4. To be fair everyone is having trouble getting parts. EV manufacturers not being able to get parts is a blessing in disguise. It’s saving people the aggravation of owning one of these stupid things.

  5. Just use the same “logic” as the “climate change” idiots do and MAKE UP the number of batteries that will be needed! PROBLEM SOLVED!! Just SAY that this will happen and when it DOESN’T then it’s going to happen in ANOTHER 30 years!! Chevy has announced it won’t provide batteries for their early model ev’s so what do THOSE people do?? DURACELL????

    1. 👍👍👍👍👍
      The Green thing is a scam, sham, fad and totally impractical.
      Owning a Tesla is a hollow status symbol.
      Don’t know what the future holds but for now it’s oil.
      Let them have fun in their little Green Dream world. When things don’t pan out and personal transportation turns to chaos the market will correct things.

      1. A Tesla may just be a status symbol, but it is one of the fastest accelerating cars on the road. It will outrun a Dodge Viper in the quarter mile. It has no practical use, of course, but it is fun.

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